8 May 2025 is an important date, as it marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War between the German Nazi regime and the Allies.
The destruction has long since been removed, but the scars of this war can still be seen today in Böckenbusch, a small wood on the eastern edge of the town of Dülmen. There are still more than fifty craters in the ground here, caused by bombs dropped by Allied aircraft during the battle for the nearby Wehrmacht petrol depot.
Today, birdsong has replaced the sound of the bombers, trees have grown, oaks and alders provide shade in summer, but the craters remain, between three and seven metres wide and 1.50 to 3 metres deep.
Students from the Münster Art Academy, mainly from Mariana Castillo Deball's class, were invited to take part and contribute their own concepts to the project. For them, 80 years after the war, the site stood for many different things and many different possibilities. The craters could be seen as rainwater reservoirs, time capsules, subliminal memories and traces in an ecosystem that is not yet clearly defined. They will research on site from an artistic perspective and explore how their ideas can be realised using only materials that can be easily removed at the end of the exhibition to return the craters to their original state. The students have chosen the title "Does The Ground Remember?", linking the themes of remembrance culture, militarism, nature conservation and transience.
Renowned artists from the region have also been invited to join in with this basic idea and set additional accents with their current art. The works of Martina Lückener, Dominik Burghoff, David Rauer and Volker-Johannes Trieb will enrich the exhibition with exciting objects.
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